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Utah horror: 5 family members including 3 children found dead, 17-year-old rushed to hospital with gunshot wound
The dead people reportedly included two adults, an 11-year-old boy, and two girls aged 9 and 2.
Five family members were found dead in a Utah home on Tuesday, December 17, including three children. A 17-year-old individual was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound, cops have said.
The dead people included two adults, an 11-year-old boy, and two girls aged 9 and 2, said Roxeanne Vainuku, a spokesperson for the West Valley City Police Department. It remains unclear how they died.
Shooting believed to be ‘isolated to this home’
The bodies were found in the house in West Valley City, which is about 9 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The wounded teen was found in the garage.
“Absolutely horrific. This is something that certainly will weigh heavily on investigators in this case,” Vainuku said at a nighttime news conference, according to New York Post.
Authorities believe the shooting is something that was “isolated to this home,” Vainuku said. It is not believed that there is a suspect who is absconding. Vainuku added that since the 17-year-old “is injured and he’s in the hospital, there are some challenges in communicating with him and finding out more information.”
“We do not believe there’s a suspect on the loose,” she added.
On Monday, December 16, police were alerted by a relative who tried to reach the 38-year-old woman who lived in the home, but was unsuccessful. No one answered when authorities arrived at the home.
Cops came back the next day when the same relative found the teen in the garage. Police have been talking with neighbors and are also investigating inside the home, Vainuku said. She added that cops are trying to gather evidence from things like doorbell cameras.
Police said in an X post that they have obtained a search warrant. “We have obtained a search warrant for the home and investigators have entered and began their investigation. Officers also have canvassed the neighborhood gathering information and any video evidence. At this time, we believe this incident is isolated to this home,” the post says.
Of the teen who is hospitalised, Vainuku said, “We do not know at this point if he is a suspect in this case or if he is a victim in this case.” The victims appeared to be the residence's occupants; police knew that it included a family with two parents and four children aged 2 to 17.
